Resident and Fellow Fast Track Grants

The deadline to apply for a 2018 Fast Track grant is August 27, 2018.

This research opportunity is designed specifically for residents and fellows, offering a small amount of funding to seed innovative projects related to hand surgery. The scope of the project is smaller, and the time to funding is faster than the traditional AFSH basic science and clinical research grants.

About Fast Track Grants

These grants function similarly to the NIH Small Research Grant Program (R03). The R03 grant mechanism supports small research projects that can be carried out in a short period of time with limited resources. Learn more about the NIH Small Grant Program (R03).

Scope:

Pilot or feasibility studies

Secondary analysis of existing data

Small, self-contained research projects

Development of research methodology

Development of new research technology

All proposals relating to any hand/upper limb project will be considered if eligibility requirements are met.

New! 2018 Special Emphasis NoticeThe AFSH seeks to award a Special Emphasis grant in the following areas: opioid education/pain management strategy, simulation/novel training models, Touching Hands Project/outcomes research. Designated funding is available for the 2018 fast track grant cycle, and projects within these subject areas will receive special attention by the Research Management Committee.

Additionally, special funding is available this year from the AFSH Linscheid-Dobyns Excellence in Wrist Research fund. Projects related to wrist topics will be eligible to receive a named Lindscheid-Dobyns Fast Track Research Grant.

2018 Special Emphasis Areas:

Opioid education for patients, surgeons and/or the development of protocols to study pain management strategies.

Hand/upper limb education with high consideration given to simulation or competency-guided training, Maintenance of Certification (MOC), and novel training models.

Touching Hands Project (THP) and Outreach outcomes research to track/report patient outcomes related to THP. Award may be used towards travel to THP brigade site(s) in U.S. or abroad.

Special funding is also available for wrist projects, in honor of the Linscheid-Dobyns Excellence in Wrist Research fund.

Special emphasis grants will be considered as part of the general pool of resident/fellow fast track grant proposals reviewed this year. Proposals covering any topic related to hand/upper limb are welcome to apply.

Award

Apply

Eligibility

Hand surgery fellows or surgical residents in ACGME or RCPSC accredited programs are eligible to apply. Funding will be limited to one applicant per institution. PI may only submit one Fast Track grant application per calendar year. Award amount is $5,000.

Timeline

Deadline for proposals is August 27, 2018. Applicants may be required to make revisions to their proposals prior to receiving funding.

Application Process

Prior to submitting your application, please be sure your ASSH user record is up-to-date. Login here. If you do not have an ASSH record you will be prompted to create one. Applicants are required to complete all of the steps below:

Letter of Support: This must be from an ASSH Active Member and should detail how the process of mentoring will take place, including the direct role the mentor will take in the project. The letter of support will be an important component of the decision whether or not to award funding. For Canadian applicants, the ASSH Active Member must be affiliated with the applicant’s home institution.

All materials must be received by August 27, 2018 to qualify for a 2018 Fast Track Grant. Applicants will be informed of their application status by December 21, 2018. Promising applicants will be asked to prepare an NIH-style one-page response to reviewer critiques prior to any funding decisions.

FAQ

I completed my fellowship in Canada, may I apply? Yes! Hand surgery fellows or surgical residents in good standing with training programs accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada are eligible to apply. Please note - Canadian applicants must have an ASSH Member affiliated with the applicant’s home institution serve as a mentor with a direct role in the project. The ASSH Active Member must be affiliated with the applicant’s home institution.

My project has already began, can I still request a Fast Track Grant? While it is fine to have preliminary data to share in your proposal, the study that you are requesting funding for must start after your application is approved.

Are “patient recruitment incentives” an allowable cost for a grant? Yes

Can funds be used for salary or travel expenses? Travel is not allowed. Some funds may be used to cover lab personnel or work done by a research coordinator.

Are overhead/indirect costs allowed to be charged for this grant? No, overhead/indirect costs are not allowed.

Do I need to submit both a CV and a biosketch? Please continue to include the biosketches in the general research grant application. The PI should submit his or her CV as a separate attachment upload as part of the online application.

Does the PI have to be a resident or fellow? Yes.

Are key personnel required to have an eRA Commons user name prior to submission? No.

Is the letter of support from the ASSH Active Member the same letter of support referenced on the table of contents of the application document? No. The letter referenced in the table of contents should be from the department chair or division head. The purpose of this letter is to verify that the researcher will have time and resources to complete the project in a timely fashion.

Is there a minimum effort required? There is no percent effort required. We ask that the department supports the resident's endeavor so that the project can be completed in the time allowed. The grant is not to support the resident or sponsor’s salary based on time committed to the grant. The grant can pay for statistics evaluation or assistance or other ancillary project needs.

Questions?

Follow-Up Reporting

If awarded a Fast Track Grant, the recipient is required to submit a paper or poster abstract for the 74th ASSH Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, NV (September 5-7, 2019) or to present the research findings at the Research Precourse on the Wednesday preceding the meeting. Presentation would include a report on your findings, challenges and data to date. Investigators receiving grants are expected to make a six month progress report in addition to a final report once the one-year term of the grant has expired. A final report, including a listing of all presentation and publications resulting from the project should be submitted 12 months after receipt of funds or at the conclusion of the study. All funds not used in the study should be returned to the American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand.

Publication and Further Funding

Awardees are required to submit resulting manuscripts to The Journal of Hand Surgery (JHS) and to present their work, if possible, at the ASSH Annual Meeting. All submissions to JHS resulting from this requirement will be carefully considered for publication, and both the authors and editors will maintain the right of refusal if they feel the submission is not suitable for JHS. In the case of publication, presenting, or citing research funding, credit is to be noted by footnote that the project was supported totally or partially by funds from the American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand. It is requested that a reprint of such publications be made available to the AFSH for permanent record.

Projects that receive further funding from other resources should report back to the AFSH.

Selection Process

The selection of the research proposals for funding is made by the Research Management Committee with the approval of the Council of the ASSH and the AFSH Board. Selection is based on the merits of the proposal. Proposals that have already been funded from other sources will not be considered. Awards are made to universities, medical schools, research institutions, or individuals. Grants may be used for salaries of technical and professional assistants, purchase of supplies, or minor pieces of equipment. Grants may not support the personal compensation of investigators, travel for conferences, publication costs, the payment of hospital care for patients under study, the purchase of major pieces of equipment, overhead expenses or indirect costs.

RMC Review Policies

Reviews are based on the five NIH criteria: Investigators, Environment, Significance, Approach and Innovation.

A minimum of 3 reviewers score and review each grant application.

RMC members, including the Chair and Research Division Director do not review nor participate in discussions regarding grant submissions from their institutions.

The use of ad hoc reviewers, may be called upon if institutional conflicts of interest makes the fair evaluation of a submission difficult.

Funding Policies

PIs are asked to respond to reviewer comments before funding decisions are made.

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